Roosevelt Point Cottage and Boathouse
Encyclopedia
The Roosevelt Point Cottage and Boathouse are located on the Hudson River
near the end of River Point Road in Hyde Park
, New York, United States. They were both built around 1860 as part of Rosedale, the estate
of Isaac Roosevelt
, grandfather of Franklin D. Roosevelt
.
Roosevelt's son John, who inherited the estate, was a champion ice yachter. He stored his craft in the boathouse, and his crews would warm up in the cottage. In 1993 both properties were added to the National Register of Historic Places
as a single listing.
's Empire Service
) and the river itself. The Hyde Park Marina is located to the south. Most of the land is unpaved and open; truck trailers
from a business to the north are stored around the property.
The cottage is visible from where River Point Road crosses the tracks. It is a one-and-a-half-story frame
house on a stone and brick foundation
with board-and-batten
siding, three bays
wide at the front. Its steeply pitched
gable
d roof is shingled
in asphalt, pierced by a central brick chimney and finial
s and cross-gabled in the west (rear) elevation.
Scalloped vergeboards decorate the gable ends, and the cornice
is similarly trimmed. The centrally located front entrance, on the eastern facade
, has a bracketed
pent roof, and a wooden hood covers both windows, each flanked by louver
ed shutters
. Inside much of the original finishing remains, such as the flooring, doors and woodwork.
The boathouse is a long frame building located to the north. It is sided in board-and-batten as well with a stone course
at ground level on its northern elevation. It has a double-pitched slate roof with an open area in between to allow for ventilation. A metal vent pipe rises from the roof ridge at the south, with additional pipes coming out of the western wall.
Inside, the boathouse has been slightly renovated for use as an office, which required some new braces for the rafter
s. Besides that and the removal of the loft
, the building remains intact.
The boathouse was specially built to accommodate his yacht, the 68 feet (20.7 m) Icicle, now on display at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
, also in Hyde Park. The boathouse's double-pitched roof recalls the gambrel roofs found on many Dutch Colonial
homes in the area. Sails were stored in the loft, no longer extant.
John Roosevelt's crews would warm up between and after races in the cottage's front room. His nephew Franklin spent much time at Rosedale as a boy, and as a young man competed in ice races himself, storing his own yacht in the boathouse.
The estate remained in the Roosevelt family
's hands until the mid-1950s, when it was subdivided to create the suburban-style residential neighborhood to the south of River Point Road. The main house
, boathouse and cottage are the only remaining buildings from Rosedale.
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
near the end of River Point Road in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, New York
Hyde Park is a town located in the northwest part of Dutchess County, New York, United States, just north of the city of Poughkeepsie. The town is most famous for being the hometown of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt....
, New York, United States. They were both built around 1860 as part of Rosedale, the estate
Isaac Roosevelt House
The Isaac Roosevelt House is located on Riverview Circle in Hyde Park, New York, United States. It was the main house of Roosevelt's Rosedale estate on the Hudson River. His grandson Franklin spent a lot of time there as a child, when it was the home of his uncle John.It was built in a late...
of Isaac Roosevelt
Isaac Roosevelt (businessman)
Isaac Roosevelt was an American businessman, and the grandfather of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.-Biography:...
, grandfather of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
.
Roosevelt's son John, who inherited the estate, was a champion ice yachter. He stored his craft in the boathouse, and his crews would warm up in the cottage. In 1993 both properties were added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as a single listing.
Property
The boathouse and cottage are located in a five-acre (2 ha) parcel between the tracks built as the Hudson River Railroad (now used by CSX and AmtrakAmtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Empire Service
Empire Service (Amtrak)
The Empire Service is a train service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service along the 460-mile Empire Corridor between New York City and Niagara Falls, New York...
) and the river itself. The Hyde Park Marina is located to the south. Most of the land is unpaved and open; truck trailers
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...
from a business to the north are stored around the property.
The cottage is visible from where River Point Road crosses the tracks. It is a one-and-a-half-story frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
house on a stone and brick foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
with board-and-batten
Batten
A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...
siding, three bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
wide at the front. Its steeply pitched
Roof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof is shingled
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
in asphalt, pierced by a central brick chimney and finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s and cross-gabled in the west (rear) elevation.
Scalloped vergeboards decorate the gable ends, and the cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
is similarly trimmed. The centrally located front entrance, on the eastern facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, has a bracketed
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
pent roof, and a wooden hood covers both windows, each flanked by louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed shutters
Window shutter
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails...
. Inside much of the original finishing remains, such as the flooring, doors and woodwork.
The boathouse is a long frame building located to the north. It is sided in board-and-batten as well with a stone course
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
at ground level on its northern elevation. It has a double-pitched slate roof with an open area in between to allow for ventilation. A metal vent pipe rises from the roof ridge at the south, with additional pipes coming out of the western wall.
Inside, the boathouse has been slightly renovated for use as an office, which required some new braces for the rafter
Rafter
A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members , that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.-Design:...
s. Besides that and the removal of the loft
Loft
A loft can be an upper story or attic in a building, directly under the roof. Alternatively, a loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use from some other use, often light industrial...
, the building remains intact.
History
The cottage was built by 1860 to house tenants on the Rosedale estate. Records show that it was home to Rosedale's gardener later on, when Isaac's son John Aspinwall Roosevelt owned the property. He was an avid sportsman, and in the 1880s was a champion ice yachter at a time when the Hudson just north of Poughkeepsie and the river's salt front, where it freezes over in cold winters, was the center of the sport in the United States.The boathouse was specially built to accommodate his yacht, the 68 feet (20.7 m) Icicle, now on display at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York is the first presidential library built in the United States. It was conceived and built under the direction of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1939 to 1940.- History :...
, also in Hyde Park. The boathouse's double-pitched roof recalls the gambrel roofs found on many Dutch Colonial
Dutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
homes in the area. Sails were stored in the loft, no longer extant.
John Roosevelt's crews would warm up between and after races in the cottage's front room. His nephew Franklin spent much time at Rosedale as a boy, and as a young man competed in ice races himself, storing his own yacht in the boathouse.
The estate remained in the Roosevelt family
Roosevelt family
In heraldry, canting arms are a visual or pictorial play on a surname, and were and still are a popular practice. It would be common to find roses, then, in arms of many Roosevelt families, even unrelated ones...
's hands until the mid-1950s, when it was subdivided to create the suburban-style residential neighborhood to the south of River Point Road. The main house
Isaac Roosevelt House
The Isaac Roosevelt House is located on Riverview Circle in Hyde Park, New York, United States. It was the main house of Roosevelt's Rosedale estate on the Hudson River. His grandson Franklin spent a lot of time there as a child, when it was the home of his uncle John.It was built in a late...
, boathouse and cottage are the only remaining buildings from Rosedale.